


Joking

by draculard



Category: The Icarus Hunt - Timothy Zahn
Genre: Banter, Do space ferrets dream of Kalix treats?, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Mental Link, Pix and Pax, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Space Husbands, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 01:42:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20381614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/draculard/pseuds/draculard
Summary: "On my planet, I'm considered handsome," Ixil says.





	Joking

There’s really nothing Jordan can do when their new boss looks Ixil up and down, sneers, and says, “You got a face like a squashed iguana.”

To retaliate would be to lose the job. To lose the job would be to incur the wrath of both Brother John and Uncle Arthur, and neither Jordan nor Ixil is willing to do that. Ixil himself doesn’t react to the comment, and Jordan would fully believe it didn’t bother him if it weren’t for Pix and Pax sitting on his shoulders, twitching and giving the new boss identical scowls.

Later, when they’re alone on the_ Stormy Banks, _Jordan is trying to figure out whether he should address the comment or not — specifically, whether he should apologize for his failure to defend his partner’s honor — when Ixil turns to him, stone-faced, and says,

“On my planet, I’m considered handsome.”

For a moment, Jordan doesn’t know what to say. He turns back to the switchboard slowly, processing Ixil’s words and turning them over in his head. It’s early days yet — a brand new partnership — and he still isn’t sure how to tell when Ixil is joking.

Tentatively, he says, “I believe you.” He puts as much sincerity into his voice as he does when dealing with Brother John, and after a (hopefully) organic beat of hesitation, he turns his head to observe his partner’s reaction.

It’s impossible to read Ixil’s face. Pix and Pax stare back at Jordan gravely, their little eyes trained on him and giving nothing away. 

Well, so much for that. 

“I’m pretty handsome for a human, too,” says Jordan lightly, deciding — well, fuck it, he _ is _ kind of handsome for a human. “In case you couldn’t tell,” he adds off-hand, and sneaks another glance at Ixil’s face.

Solemnly, Ixil says, “I can tell.”

And Jordan still doesn’t know if he’s joking. 

* * *

When the stardrive goes down, there’s really nothing Jordan and Ixil can do except send the ferrets off into the walls to do their business. The two of them wait in the dayroom in silence; Jordan’s arms are crossed. He’s unused to the feeling of a ship stranded in space, unmoving.

He glances across the room at Ixil, perched with military bearing — or what counts for it on the solid body of a Kalix — and his head cocked, as though he’s listening to Pix and Pax scurry through the walls.

“How’s it work, exactly?” asks Jordan, mostly just to break the silence. “The whole symbiotic ferret thing?”

Ixil looks at him and doesn’t respond. After a moment, Jordan realizes his partner is just waiting for more clarification.

“When they hook into your outer skin,” says Jordan, indicating his own shoulders, “do they have to consciously send their memories to you?”

Slowly, Ixil shakes his head. “The exchange of sensory information is automatic upon connection,” he says. “The transmission of commands is more deliberate.”

“They give you commands?” Jordan cracks. To his immense surprise, this comment earns him what may be the ghost of a smile from Ixil. Unfortunately, this only encourages him to make more bad jokes. “What do they tell you, exactly? ‘More treats now’?”

“They do request treats from time to time,” Ixil admits. He starts to say something else, but they’re both momentarily distracted by a faint squeak inside the hull. Jordan listens intently to the sound of Pix or Pax scurrying through the tight spaces behind the cool metal paneling. After a moment, the ferret moves on and the sound fades.

A new question pops to mind. “You said _ sensory information _ earlier,” says Jordan. “Does that mean they don’t just share memories?”

“They do just share memories,” said Ixil simply. “But memories come with sensations, such as frigidity or heat. And—” He shifted in his seat, leaning forward confidentially. “—they link to my mind directly, meaning they share their current sensations as well as mine. If they are in pain, I feel it so long as they are connected.”

“Ah,” says Jordan, and he turns away quickly to hide the flush that comes over his cheeks when he remembers that he’d pet Pix earlier when he was attached to Ixil’s shoulder, and Pix, in response, had licked Jordan’s hand. Had Ixil felt all that? Had he tasted Jordan’s skin through his mental connection with the ferrets?

This, he realizes, really isn’t something he wants to think about. It opens up too many disturbing doors. Hastily, he changes the subject.

“Do Pix and Pax have dreams?”

If Ixil is startled either by the sudden change or by the bizarre nature of the question, he doesn’t show it.

“Yes,” he says. “Mostly, they dream of an unlimited supply of the aforementioned treats. Occasionally, they have nightmares.”

“Of?” Jordan prompts.

“Of me,” says Ixil without shame, “denying them treats.”

He quirks his eyebrow.

Suddenly, Jordan knows how to tell when Ixil is joking. There’s a subtle change in his voice to indicate humor, present now and present when he made that comment about how handsome he was on his own planet.

But not present, Jordan notes, when he said, “I can tell.”

And that thought will plague Jordan for quite some time, he suspects.


End file.
